Wicked Business

“I don’t want to leave you here,” Clara said. “She wants to feed your liver to feral cats.”


“I’ll be okay. I’ll stay hidden. Go!”

“Will there be anything else?” Nina asked Anarchy.

“I hear whispering,” Anarchy said, looking around. “Who else is here?”

“It’s this old building,” Nina said. “It whispers.”

There was the sound of the front door opening and closing, and I knew it was Clara and Glo leaving the shop.

“And the wind rattles the door sometimes, too,” Nina said.

Even from this distance, I could see the insanity sweep over Anarchy.

“Liar,” she said, her voice cold, her eyes crazy. “There’s someone else here.” She pulled her torch out of her Gucci hobo bag and waved it at Nina. “Tell me, and I might not set you on fire. Although, it would be fun to see that Glinda the Good Witch gown go up in flames.”

“I don’t know,” Nina said. “I fell asleep. Someone might have come in.”

Anarchy shot out ten inches of blue flame, and the puffy net veil attached to Nina’s princess crown caught fire. Nina pulled the crown off and stomped on it.

“Help!” Nina yelled.

“Shut up,” Anarchy said. “No one’s going to help you in time.”

Nina reached her hand into a jar on the counter and threw some gray powder at Anarchy. “Go away. Go away.”

“What the heck?” Anarchy said.

“It’s deathweed,” Nina said. “It’ll make you shrivel up and blow away.”

Anarchy looked down at herself. She wasn’t shriveling.

“Maybe I grabbed the wrong jar,” Nina said. “Was it gray powder or red powder?”

“Gray powder,” Anarchy said.

“Oops, my bad. That was powdered dragon horn. It’s a diuretic.”

Anarchy moved through the shop with her torch in her hand. “I know someone’s here. I can hear breathing. I can feel a heartbeat.”

I was crouched down behind the bookcase, trying to control my breathing. The heartbeat I couldn’t do much about. My heart was pounding in my chest. I heard her turn in my direction, heard the heels coming closer, and then there she was, looking down at me.

“You!” she said. “How convenient.”

She waved the torch at me, and I jumped away.

“You need to calm yourself,” I said. “You should have Nina mix you a potion. Something to take the edge off. Maybe a milk shake. I’m always in a better mood after I’ve had a milk shake.”

“You tricked me with that worthless piece of glass.”

“It was a crystal.”

“It wasn’t the stone!” she shrieked. “I want the stone.”

As if I wasn’t panicked enough, I had the stone in my handbag. Stupid, stupid, stupid Lizzy.

“Diesel has the stone,” I said.

“I don’t believe you. I think you’re keeping it for yourself. You want the power of the stone.”

“Honestly,” I said. “The stone isn’t all that powerful.”

Nina crept up behind Anarchy and threw more powder at her. “Go away. Go away!”

Anarchy turned and glared at Nina. “You will die.” And she set Nina’s gown on fire.

Nina shrieked and ripped the gown off and ran out of the store. A piece of the gown set the feather boa display on fire, and in a flash, the entire front of the Exotica Shoppe was in flames.

“We need to get out of here,” I said to Anarchy.

“There’s no way out for you,” she said. “You’re going to die here. You’re going to be consumed by the flames. And when you’re dead, I’ll find the stone.”

“Look around you,” I said. “You’re going to die alongside me.”

She smiled at me. “I can’t die. I have the power.”

She aimed the torch at me, and I batted it out of her hand. I shoved her out of my way, turned to run for the door, and Anarchy knocked me to my knees with a blow to the back of my head. I was trying to clear my head and shake it off, and the big free-standing set of shelves crashed down on me. There was instant pain in my leg and a wave of nausea. I tried to move, but I was pinned under the shelf.

I was surrounded by flames and choking on smoke. Anarchy had disappeared. I could hear the fire crackling and hissing around me. I yelled for help, but I doubted anyone could hear me. And I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to get through the flames to rescue me.

I had my arm across my face, trying to filter out the smoke as much as possible, and I felt the shelf lift off. It was Wulf. He tossed the shelf out of the way and knelt beside me.

“We’re even after this,” he said. “So stay alert. The next time we meet, I might not be this nice. Hatchet was able to remember most of the writing on the tablet . . . enough to make me believe I know where to find the next stone. I won’t be happy if you try to prevent me from acquiring it.”

He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, and that was the last I remember.


When I regained consciousness, I was on the ground across the street from the Exotica Shoppe. A paramedic was bending over me, offering oxygen. I sucked some in and sat up. Glo, Clara, and Nina were there. No Wulf.